Yay, Tesla charging … July 31!

[DeaneG]

I have a Ford adapter from my former Mach E. Guessing it would work - but too nervous to try!

• OEM-certified adapter
• Rated for up to 500 amps and 1,000 volts

That should be just fine.

 

[thommev]

On full V4 superchargers (none of which exist yet), the Air will be able to go at full speed as those are rumored to be 1000V. The Air uses an 800-900V system, so they can charge at full speed.

The issue is at V3 superchargers (aka basically all of them right now) which use a 400V system. On those chargers, the Air will max out at 50kW. Those chargers are older technology and the Air was built for the future, before those chargers were announced to be opening up to other vehicles.

The Gravity will charge at full speed on any charger in existence today, because they built it to. In fact, it’ll charge faster than a Tesla at a V4 supercharger.

That’s all.

Thanks, I get your explanation.

My question about @Andretex ' comment was why he thought we need an adapter rated for 500KW. Reading/thinking again, maybe it was a typo on his part.. Maybe he meant 50KW.

 

[thommev]

Well, the adapter can be used with any super charger not just level 3 Tesla. So you want it make sure when your car is charging at 350kw that the adapter does not catch on fire. Yes, its overkill for level 3 tesla supercharger, but not for any other that allows the car to charge higher.

Oh, you are saying we need 500kW if we want to use that same adapter for some other car that charges faster on a Tesla SC.. But Lucid Air specifically, for now, 50kW should be fine. Having said that it looks like just about every listing in Amazon seems to be 250kW or higher.

 

[thommev]

I don't use fast chargers a whole lot (used maybe 5 times in the last 6-7 months.. each time a great experience, never waited), and I don't use my Lucid air for a lot of long road trips (I use the X7 for its space and far superior auto-drive) - BUT if I were to use Lucid for a long road trip, I would definitely get one of these adapters. I see far more Tesla SC than EA chargers here in Midwest. 50kW is far better than any L2 charger. It will give you enough juice to get to your super-duper EA charger fast enough. I don't see how having this option at 50KW is bad from any perspective. If you are happy with EA and you can find one every time - great.. But for everyone else - this is indeed great news.

 

[DeaneG]

Oh, you are saying we need 500kW if we want to use that same adapter for some other car that charges faster on a Tesla SC.. But Lucid Air specifically, for now, 50kW should be fine. Having said that it looks like just about every listing in Amazon seems to be 250kW or higher.

You'd want to buy an adapter rated at 1000V and 500A, so that it will be safe with Tesla's future V4 superchargers and also NACS charging stations operated by anyone else, on which the Air will change at full speed.There are many poorly made, unsafe adapters for sale on Amazon. Buy one from Lucid, Lectron, or A2Z.

 

[evfreedom]

That was a problem, but most EA chargers I've used since I bought the car have been reliable. The exception was at locations with physically broken connectors. They show up in apps as available, people go to that location thinking that there's no crowd, and there ends up being a long line. I don't know whether people are not reporting them or EA is not flagging them when reported.

A bigger problem as I see it is that EA decided to have far more locations, but with few chargers per location. That makes it impossible to plan a route and select EA chargers along the way and have any expectation that the availability you see in the app will have anything to do with what will be the case when you get there. And one charger down in a location that has four is a significant problem.

Tesla has fewer locations, but might have 100 chargers at a given freeway exit. So if it comes down to driving from one EA location to another, giving up and waiting in line for an hour, then a Supercharger will be faster. Plus, by not waiting around for someone to leave, you can go eat and come back when the car is charged.

Tesla is far from ideal.

Exactly! If you're driving up or down I-5 in California, here's a cheat sheet for you. I have grown to appreciate EA and EVgo, but 6 stalls ain't gonna cut it!

 

[Andretex]

Thanks, I get your explanation.

My question about @Andretex ' comment was why he thought we need an adapter rated for 500KW. Reading/thinking again, maybe it was a typo on his part.. Maybe he meant 50KW.

this is what I meant. it needs to be rated for 500kw (1000v 500 amp) as the max Lucid is about 450kw.

 

[WCWIII]

I didn't quite see this thought conveyed on the multiple threads on the new adapter ... sorry if I missed something.

I get that the new Lucid Tesla SC adapter could be handy and give flexibility and peace of mind. I might even order one because of this alone. But with proper planning on a road trip, is it really that helpful? If the rate is limited to 50kW, is there an itinerary that is substantially improved or enabled because of this adapter? I tried to contrive something with ABRP going through West Virginia where I don't see non-Tesla DC fast chargers ... it seems you could still plan something reasonable adding charge at ~20kW within WV to get to a next CCS DC fast charger. Sure 50kW is more than 20kW, but is there an itinerary where you'd save more say than 30-60 minutes of charging time to get from one CCS DC fast charger to the next only because of the new SC access?

What I'd really like on a road trip is an adapter for NACS to J1772 qualified by Lucid (like TeslaTap or others) such that I can stay at a hotel (often having only Tesla L2 chargers) with free overnight EV charging. I can imagine that the savings would pay for the cost of the adapter with a handful of stays.

 

[HC_79]

I didn't quite see this thought conveyed on the multiple threads on the new adapter ... sorry if I missed something.

I get that the new Lucid Tesla SC adapter could be handy and give flexibility and peace of mind. I might even order one because of this alone. But with proper planning on a road trip, is it really that helpful? If the rate is limited to 50kW, is there an itinerary that is substantially improved or enabled because of this adapter? I tried to contrive something with ABRP going through West Virginia where I don't see non-Tesla DC fast chargers ... it seems you could still plan something reasonable adding charge at ~20kW within WV to get to a next CCS DC fast charger. Sure 50kW is more than 20kW, but is there an itinerary where you'd save more say than 30-60 minutes of charging time to get from one CCS DC fast charger to the next only because of the new SC access?

What I'd really like on a road trip is an adapter for NACS to J1772 qualified by Lucid (like TeslaTap or others) such that I can stay at a hotel (often having only Tesla L2 chargers) with free overnight EV charging. I can imagine that the savings would pay for the cost of the adapter with a handful of stays.

If I still owned an Air I'd be buying one for 2 reasons

1). The 50kW is nice to have as a last resort. At times I've pulled into an EA location that is full with a line of 10+ cars and the next charging stop along the route was reporting full as well. When a Tesla location is over the road with 98 stalls has ample chargers available, am I going to wait a few hours (because we all know some clowns will want to charge to 100%) to use the EA location or go to Tesla, take the slower speed? I'd take the slower speed and only charge for what I need.

2). When the true V4 1000V comes online you're going to need the adapter anyway to make use of the Tesla network

Even though the Gravity is limited to 225kW on Tesla chargers at the moment I still opt to use the network for pure reliability. I recently did a road trip and had 100% success using Tesla, the one time on the trip I decided to use EA the charger was jammed up and wouldn't start and the rest of the chargers were full. I'll never see anything above 150kW to 170kW with EA because more often than not the locations are always full and they power balance 350kW chargers so Tesla will deliver me a faster or similar speed anyway depending on my SoC.

 

[DeaneG]

...I get that the new Lucid Tesla SC adapter could be handy and give flexibility and peace of mind. I might even order one because of this alone. But with proper planning on a road trip, is it really that helpful? If the rate is limited to 50kW, is there an itinerary that is substantially improved or enabled because of this adapter?...

The Air is only limited to 50kW on existing Tesla superchargers. The entire EV charging provider industry is moving to 1000V NACS, including Tesla.

Though the NACS adapter may currently mostly add peace of mind, it'll be very valuable in the future as more 1000V NACS stations are built out by Ionna, Mercedes-Benz, Walmart, Tesla, etc, allowing full-speed charging of the Air on NACS. You might as well have an adapter to expand your charging options both now and in the future.

As an aside, certain road trips into CCS charging deserts are only possible with the help of a NACS adapter, even with the Air's range.

 

[Tâm]

I didn't quite see this thought conveyed on the multiple threads on the new adapter ... sorry if I missed something.

I get that the new Lucid Tesla SC adapter could be handy and give flexibility and peace of mind. I might even order one because of this alone. But with proper planning on a road trip, is it really that helpful? If the rate is limited to 50kW, is there an itinerary that is substantially improved or enabled because of this adapter? I tried to contrive something with ABRP going through West Virginia where I don't see non-Tesla DC fast chargers ... it seems you could still plan something reasonable adding charge at ~20kW within WV to get to a next CCS DC fast charger. Sure 50kW is more than 20kW, but is there an itinerary where you'd save more say than 30-60 minutes of charging time to get from one CCS DC fast charger to the next only because of the new SC access?

What I'd really like on a road trip is an adapter for NACS to J1772 qualified by Lucid (like TeslaTap or others) such that I can stay at a hotel (often having only Tesla L2 chargers) with free overnight EV charging. I can imagine that the savings would pay for the cost of the adapter with a handful of stays.

It's just like a doughnut spare tire. You might not use it after paying a few hundred dollars for it but once you used it, it might beat the towing cost for a flat tire.

I am willing to pay more for more options.

 

[Plg]

Whoo-hoo!

 

[L-Dude]

It's just like a doughnut spare tire. You might not use it after paying a few hundred dollars for it but once you used it, it might beat the towing cost for a flat tire.

I am willing to pay more for more options.

Moreover, I am willing to pay for options (spare tire, tire repair kit, windshield repair kit, CCS->NACS--AC and DC, heavy duty extension cord, etc) so that I don't have to worry about such things.

 

[L-Dude]

Whoo-hoo!
View attachment 31196

Hey me too!

 

[jbawden]

90% of our charging is at wife's work but road trips for me couldn't be less about an agenda, careful planning, an itinerary, or anything remotely similar to regular life schedules and commitments. Most important to me is having options and not assuming things will work as expected. I may not always have a well planned trip, but I will always be well-prepared for unexpected circumstances and couldn't place my adaptor order fast enough to add that to my playbook.

We pass Tesla chargers (on the way to Tahoe specifically) that are completely empty but we have heavy competition for the (4) spotty EA chargers in South Lake. Either way is 30-50 minutes to charge, so $220 to virtually eliminate time wasted in line? Priceless.

 

[chazglenn3]

What I'd really like on a road trip is an adapter for NACS to J1772 qualified by Lucid (like TeslaTap or others) such that I can stay at a hotel (often having only Tesla L2 chargers) with free overnight EV charging. I can imagine that the savings would pay for the cost of the adapter with a handful of stays.

That has always been available. The Tesla Destination Chargers are not smart like Superchargers. They don't communicate with the car. Simply purchase a quality adapter. I bought his one...

NACS Charger To J1772 Vehicle | AC | The Stellar Plug

Key Features : Power : Can charge up to 80A and 20kW. Safety and Security: Our adapter locks in while charging, ensuring no unplanned disconnections or thefts. Your vehicle locks the adapter for the charge port. Protection : IP67 protection from dust and water & IP54 (mating). No restrictions ...

a2zevshop.com

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

.There are many poorly made, unsafe adapters for sale on Amazon.

And many more outright flaming dangerous ones with phoney certifications on eBay

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Whoo-hoo!

My adapter order status and Fedex notice just arrived. Shipping from Carrollton Tx.

 

[MikeTz]

From the Lucid store

Will adapters made by third parties work as well.? I received one from Rivian that I have used supercharging the R1S and also used on my son's Mach-e with no issues.

 

[DeaneG]

Will adapters made by third parties work as well.? I received one from Rivian that I have used supercharging the R1S and also used on my son's Mach-e with no issues.

If it's a quality adapter rated at 500A and 1000V, it should work without issue. I'd be comfortable using an adapter from Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Ford, Lectron, A2Z, but not from Hyundai /Kia, nor one of the hundreds of no-name adapters on Amazon and eBay.